Wall Street Journal remains No. 1 U.S. newspaper

Wall Street Journal remains No. 1 U.S. newspaper

The Wall Street Journal is seen in this file photo. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

The Wall Street Journal is seen in this...

Photo by
Associated Press
/Times Free Press.

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. newspapers reported a slight increase in circulation the past year as more readers purchased digital subscriptions, according to a media industry group.

Average daily circulation in the six months that ended on March 31, rose nearly 1 percent for the 618 newspapers that participated in the Audit Bureau of Circulations semi-annual study, which was released Tuesday.

Digital circulation, which includes subscribers who access content on tablet computers, smartphones, e-readers and websites, accounted for 14.2 percent of overall circulation. That was up from 8.6 percent in the October-March period a year earlier.

The Wall Street Journal remains the No. 1 U.S. newspaper, with average weekday circulation of 2.1 million, about the same as a year earlier. The Journal has more than 1.5 million print subscribers and nearly 560,000 digital subscribers, according to the report.

USA Today ranked No. 2, with 1.8 million, down less than 1 percent. The New York Times was third with 1.6 million, up 73.1 percent. The Times' circulation increased after it started charging online readers without a print subscription to gain unlimited online access. The newspaper now has roughly 780,000 print subscribers and 807,000 digital subscribers.

Circulation for the 532 newspapers that report Sunday data grew 5 percent. The New York Times had the highest Sunday circulation with 2 million, up 49.6 percent from a year earlier. Neither the Journal nor USA Today publishes on Sunday.

The Times said its print circulation continued to decline, but said the inclusion of a free digital subscription with a Sunday home delivery subscription helped increase Sunday print circulation.